New Addition to the Family
by TotalCSIfan
Summary: There is a new addition to the Stokes family, meet the new member! Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

New Addition to the Family

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and the Stokes family was just hanging out around the house.

"Hey Nick it's so nice out, what do you say we all take the dog for a walk, I'm sure the kids would love going outside?" Jackie asked her husband.

"Sounds good to me." Nick agreed.

Jackie went to get Jasmine's shoes on while Nick got Houston ready.

After Jasmine was all ready to go Jackie went to find the dog. She found him lying in his dog bed in Jasmine's room. Chief had slept in Jasmine's room since Nick and Jackie had brought her home from the hospital, it was almost like he was acting as her protector. Like most young children do Jasmine often petted him a little harder then she should or sometimes she would accidently step on his tail or his paw but Chief never seemed to mind. The dog was one of Jasmine's best buddies. He was technically Jackie's dog because Nick had given him to her as a gift on their first anniversary but it was safe to say Jasmine had stolen him from her.

"Come on boy, let's go for a walk." She said but the dog continued to sleep.

"Come on, don't be lazy." She said with a chuckle.

"Chief." She said a little louder when he didn't respond.

When she still didn't get any response she walked over to him and laid a hand on his back.

"Nick, come up here right now." She yelled.

He appeared in the doorway at once, his face was clouded with concern, and that concern only grew when he say the tears in her eyes.

"What is it?" he asked worriedly.

"I think Chief is dead." She blurted.

His eyes grew wide as he walked over to where the dog lay. Jackie stepped back, it didn't take Nick long to confirm what she already knew. Nick looked up at her and gave her a small, sad nod. The tears that were in her eyes now rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry sweetie." He said as he came over to her and wrapped his arms around her but her six month pregnant belly made getting a good hug next to impossible.

"What do we tell Jasmine?" she asked quietly.

"I'll think of something, in the meantime I'll go call the vet." He answered as he let her go and walked out of the room.

"Come here a second." Nick said to Jackie just a few minutes later.

She came out into the kitchen to join him, making sure they were well out of the children's earshot.

"The vet said I could bring Chief in to have him cremated. What do you think?"

"I think that's the best thing, I'd rather do that then have him buried somewhere." She said.

"I think so too." He agreed.

"Ok then let's do it." She said.

Not long after that Jackie took the kids into the master bedroom with her and shut the door so the kids wouldn't see Nick carrying the dog outside. Nick and Jackie discussed whether or not it was a good idea to let Jasmine say goodbye but ultimately they decided that she was just too little.

"Come on guys, let's dance." Jackie said.

She turned on the T.V and found a channel with country music on and danced around the room with the kids. The kids giggled as they danced with their mother. This was a fun way for Jackie to keep the kids entertained but it was also a great way for her to take her mind off of what Nick was doing. After she was sure Nick had left she took the kids outside to play.

About an hour later she was feeding both kids lunch when Nick came back home.

"We can pick up his ashes in a couple days." He whispered to Jackie.

She nodded.

"You ok?" he asked.

Again she just nodded.

"Uh-oh." Jasmine said, snapping Nick and Jackie out of their thoughts.

They looked down and saw that a piece of her hot dog was on the floor.

"That darn piece of hot dog just jumped right off your plate didn't it?" Nick said with a laugh.

"Dada funny." Jasmine giggled.

"EEFFF." Jasmine called.

Chief loved it when the kids ate because nine times out of ten some of it would land on the floor and he'd happily clean it up for them. Nick and Jackie had even caught Jasmine throwing her food on the floor on purpose just so Chief could have some. This time though, the dog did not come running.

"EEEEFFF." Jasmine called again.

Jackie gave Nick a look that said _what do we do?_

Nick saw the look on her face and shrugged helplessly, he didn't know what to say either.

"Eeefff outside?" Jasmine asked as she looked at Jackie.

Jackie just turned and pretended to get something out of the fridge, she didn't know what to do, she didn't want to lie to her daughter but she didn't know how to tell her the truth either.

Jasmine didn't appear to be bothered at all by Jackie's lack of response as she just happily ate the rest of her hot dog. After lunch Jasmine went in search of her beloved furry friend but she obviously didn't find him.

"We have to do something." Jackie finally said to Nick as Jasmine was trying with all her might to get the back door open so she could go look for the dog outside after she didn't find him anywhere in the house.

"Ok, yeah you're right." Nick agreed.

He picked up Jasmine and carried her into the living room, Jackie followed close behind. Nick sat down on the sofa with Jasmine in his lap and Jackie took a seat next to him.

"Jasmine sweetie, Chief went bye-bye." Nick said.

"Outside?" Jasmine asked.

"No peanut, he's not outside." Nick answered.

"Pane?" She asked.

"No baby, he's not on a plane either." Jackie said as tears filled her green eyes.

"Mama sad?" Jasmine asked as she gently wiped a tear off of Jackie's face.

"No honey mommy's ok." Jackie said.

"Sweetie sometimes when doggies get old they have to go bye-bye." Nick said as he tried to not cry himself.

"Eeefff bye-bye?" Jasmine said sadly as tears filled her own sweet brown eyes.

"Yes, honey, Chief went bye-bye." Nick said.

"Eeefff bye-bye." Jasmine wailed as she buried her face in Nick's shirt and bawled her eyes out.

"Shhhh its ok sweetheart, it'll be ok., daddy's so sorry." Nick said softly as he stroked the little girl's hair, trying to console her.

"Mommy and daddy love you so much baby girl." Jackie said as she too stroked Jasmine's hair.

Eventually Jasmine cried herself to sleep on Nick's lap.

After he had laid her down in her bed he went in to his own room and found Jackie sitting on the bed, tears were rolling down her pretty cheeks.

"That was beyond horrible." She said as he took a seat next to her.

"Yeah that sucked." Nick agreed as he grabbed her hand.

An hour later Jasmine was still asleep so Jackie peeked her head in her room to check on her.

"Oh God." She said quietly.

Then she turned and yelled "Nick, come here, quick."

When Nick got to the doorway of Jasmine's room he was shocked at what he saw.

"Oh no." he said as he looked at Jackie.

Jasmine was curled up in a fetal position in Chief's dog bed.

To Be Continued…..


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nick quickly went and picked her up and laid her back in her own bed. After that he picked up the dog bed and put it in the garage. When he got back inside the house he found Jackie sitting on the couch.

"What are we going to do? Did we do the right thing? Are we bad parents?" Jackie asked without taking a breath.

"I'm not sure, I thought we did the right thing but now I'm not I don't know, but no, I don't think we are bad parents." He assured her.

"You know Nicky I thought it would be a good idea to wait a while before we got another dog but after seeing this I'm not so sure, I'm starting to think we should get another one sooner rather then later."

"I was thinking the same thing." Nick agreed.

"Ok then that settles it, tomorrow afternoon we will go down to the shelter and adopt a puppy." Jackie said.

"Yeah, I think that's the best thing." Nick said.

So the next day the family drove to the shelter.

"Just out of curiosity how come you picked this shelter to adopt from?" Nick asked Jackie as he drove. "Because they euthanize the animals if they are not adopted, I wanted to save one if at all possible." She said.

Nick smiled at her.

When they got to the shelter Nick went one way and Jackie went the other.

"This way Nicky." Jackie said.

"What's the difference?" He asked as he looked up at a sign that said _adoptable dogs_.

"The dogs on this wing of the shelter only have only a short time before they are put down, it's like the death row part of the shelter if you will." She explained.

"Oh, you mean the dogs on this wing don't get put down if they don't get adopted?" He asked confused.

"Well they do, just not as soon. The way I understood how this shelter operates is when dogs first get picked up by the dog catchers they get put in the wing you were going to go into and they stay in there for about a week or so, if they don't get adopted they go to the death row part and they only get to stay in there for a few days before they get put down."

"Oh ok, then I'll follow you." Nick said as he picked up Jasmine and put her on his shoulders so she wouldn't reach her hand in a cage and get bit.

Nick opened a heavy door that led to the death row part of the shelter, allowing Jackie to push Houston's stroller threw it. When they went through the doors and started walking down the aisle of caged dogs they hadn't made it very far when a big brown vicious looking dog barked loudly. Nick felt Jasmine flinch on his shoulders.

"Bad dog." Jasmine scolded.

"You tell him Jazz." Nick laughed.

"Honey I'm not seeing any puppies in here at all." Nick said to Jackie once they had nearly reached the end of the aisle.

"I'm not either." She said.

In the very last cage there was an adorable Dalmatian puppy all by itself. The second Nick walked in front of it's cage the puppy bounded up to the bars of the cage and started wagging it's tail like crazy, obviously happy to have some company.

"Baby dog." Jasmine giggled.

"Yeah, it's a baby dog." Nick said.

Jasmine wasn't the only one thrilled to see that puppy.

"Oh my God it's a Dalmatian." Jackie exclaimed excitedly the moment she saw him.

"So?" Nick asked surprised by her reaction.

"I had a Dalmatian when I was little." She said.

"You did? I didn't know that." Nick said.

"Well he actually lived at my Aunts house and he technically was my cousin's dog but he was more of a family dog. I loved that dog, I was totally crushed when he died, we got him when I was like 8 or so and he lived about 11 years, we practically grew up together. I have loved every dog I have ever had but I have to say he was my favorite. What do you say, can we adopt the Dalmatian puppy?" Jackie asked sounding like a little girl.

"I don't know Jackie, I've heard they aren't real good with kids." Nick said tentatively.

"I don't think that's true, the one we had was a fantastic dog, and he was great with us kids."

"Well if you're sure." Nick said, he knew that as much as Jackie wanted to bring the puppy home she wouldn't even consider it if she thought for even a split second her kids would be in any kind of danger what so ever.

"Ok, I'll go tell the lady at the front desk." He said as he took Jasmine off his shoulders and set her next to Jackie.

While Nick was gone another woman and her husband came into the room, also looking for a dog to adopt. The same dog that had scared Jasmine once again barked loudly.

"Bad dog." Jasmine scolded again.

"My thoughts exactly." The woman said with a laugh.

Moments later Nick came back with a woman right behind him. She opened the puppy's cage and picked up the excited puppy. She handed the puppy to Nick,

"Hello." Nick laughed as the puppy licked his nose.

"Me dada." Jasmine said.

Nick got down on his haunches so Jasmine could pet the puppy. She grinned from ear to ear as she stroked the puppy's soft fur.

"We let people interested in adopting a new pet take the one they like outside in the fenced backyard to get to know them better, would you guys be interested in doing that?"

"Sure, thank you." Nick said.

"Ok then, follow me." The woman said.

She led them outside.

"I'll leave you guys alone for awhile." She said as she disappeared back inside.

Nick, Jackie, and Jasmine sat down on the grass.

Jackie took Houston out of his stroller.

Nick set the puppy down and it gleefully raced over to Jasmine, licked her face and then moved on to Houston who was happily sitting on Jackie's lap. Houston squealed in delight.

"Pet the puppy nice bud." Jackie said as she grabbed Houston's hand to make sure he was gentle with the friendly pup.

Houston, with Jackie's help stroked the puppy's head.

"Good job." Jackie praised the young child.

The puppy seemed to not want to leave Nick out so after receiving some attention from Jackie and Houston the puppy ran towards Nick and jumped on him.

Nick laughed.

The puppy then bounded back to Jasmine and just laid its head on Jazz's lap.

"Baby dog nye." Jasmine giggled.

"Yeah the puppy's nice isn't it?" Jackie asked.

"Baby dog." Jasmine corrected her mother.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry, baby dog." Jackie said.

Jasmine grinned at her and Jackie just looked at Nick and smiled.

"Jasmine, would you like to take the baby dog home?" Nick asked, already knowing what her answer would be.

"Mine?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, it'd be yours." Nick said.

"Yeah, baby dog home." Jasmine said eagerly.

"Thought so." Nick said with a laugh.

"What do you want to name it Jazz?" Jackie asked.

"Daw" Jasmine said.

"Doll?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah." Jasmine said shaking her head vigorously.

"Ok how about Dolly?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah Dawly." Jasmine said happily.

"Wait will Dolly work, is it a girl?" Jackie asked.

"I'm not sure, I never looked." Nick answered.

"I didn't either." Jackie said.

"Come here puppy." Nick called.

The puppy lifted its head off of Jasmine's lap and when it realized Nick was calling it, it took off full steam in Nick's direction.

"At least the little thing is obedient." Nick said with a smile.

He picked up the puppy "yes Dolly will work, it's a girl." He declared.

"Good." Jackie smiled.

Just then the door to the opened and the same lady who had led them out there came outside.

"Hi how's it going?" she asked with a friendly smile.

"Good, we'll take her." Nick declared.

"Oh good, I am so happy to hear that. You know each animal in here has what we call a human buddy. The animal's human buddy spends time with the animal to get it used to people, feeds it, waters it, takes it for walks, and plays with it. I'm that puppy's human buddy and I can honestly say I have never met a sweeter animal. I couldn't believe nobody adopted her, I would have been so crushed if she would have had to be put down. I would have adopted her myself but I already have four dogs, and I'm pretty sure that if I would have come home with another one my husband would have divorced me."

Nick and Jackie laughed and the woman smiled.

The lady's face turned serious again and then she added "And I am so glad you guys came when you did because at two thirty today she would have been put down. This really was her eleventh hour if you will."

Jackie looked at her watch, it read 1:15.

"Wow had we gotten here a little over an hour later it would have been too late." Jackie said amazed.

"We timed that well." Nick smiled.

"Yes, and it looks like the puppy and your little girl will be great friends." The woman said as she looked at the puppy who once again had her head on Jasmine's lap.

"Would you like us to give you a moment to say goodbye?" Jackie asked the woman.

"No, that's ok, I'm just so glad I get to say goodbye to her for this reason and not the other." She said with a smile as she walked over to where Jasmine and the puppy were.

She kneeled down and petted the puppy's head. "You be good, you're going to a great home with very nice people, they'll take good care of you."

The puppy lifted her head and when she realized who was talking to her she started frantically wagging her tail and then she jumped up and gave the woman a lick on the cheek.

The woman laughed and gave the puppy one last pat on the head before turning her attention back to Nick and Jackie.

"Whenever you guys are ready just come to the front desk and I'll help you fill out the paper work needed for you guys to adopt her and then you can head home."

"Ok thank you." Nick replied.

The woman nodded and then disappeared into the shelter once again.

"Well should we go?" Nick asked Jackie a few minutes later.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Jackie said.

Jackie put Houston back in his stroller.

"Come on kiddo." Nick said to Jasmine as he took the puppy from her lap.

Jasmine frowned at him.

"Mine dada." She said.

"Yeah she's yours but I'll carry her, you'll drop her on her head." Nick said.

By the look on Jasmine's face Nick knew she wasn't too thrilled about that but she got up and followed him.

Nick started to walk towards the door to the shelter.

"Uh honey, a little help here please." Jackie said as she still sat on the grass.

Nick turned around "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Help, I've sat down and I can't get up." She grinned.

Nick laughed as he went over and gave her a hand up.

"Thanks." She said.

He just laughed once again and then went and opened the door so they could all get in.

The paperwork took about ten minutes and then they were headed home.

On the way home Jackie smiled, she knew Jazz and the puppy would get to grow up together just like she had done with her Dalmatian so many years ago. She also knew that Chief would live on in their hearts forever.

The End! Reviews are much appreciated!


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